This week was a short and busy week preparing for upcoming events, completing some behind-the-scenes work, and engaging with community members in Region 1.

Building Relationships

On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend a Leading Communities workshop in Osceola County. Leading Communities is a program created and implemented by ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development specialists. This program is designed to give community members that want to be more active in their communities the resources and information to become active leaders in their communities.

This week was the 4th session to occur in Osceola County. This week, their topic was building social capital and connections. The importance of having connections, both within and outside of the county, was emphasized. For example, it is easier to retaliate when disasters strike if you have external connections.

I wasn’t sure what to expect as I drove over to Ocheyedan, IA, to attend this session. The session was interactive, and the specialists took extra efforts to make the sessions relatable to the community. They referenced community events, community connections, and ways to apply what they learned to the community. The group was more diverse than I expected. I thought that the group would be mostly people involved in 4-H, Extension, and a few retired people. But, there were people from multiple businesses and organizations in the community, where more people fell into these categories than 4-H and Extension. There were also people from almost every town inS the county.

StoryWalk Project Progression

This week I submitted a permission request to the publishing company for the book that I want to use at fair. Many publishers expanded their Copyright permissions during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow educators, librarians, businesses, etcetera to continue having storytime with kids on digital platforms. Many of these publishing companies have expanded permissions to the end of the summer, but you have to fill out a form letting them know that you want to use their book. So, I am currently waiting to hear back from them. I am hoping to be able to use the story Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm by Joy Cowley.

I also have started creating the maps that will help guide families through the StoryWalk. The families will start and the 4-H Building and make their way through all the animal barns as they read the story. Along the way, families can scan QR codes that will take them to a PDF of fun facts about the animal species in the barn they are about to enter and activities they can do along the way. Also, there will be a paper punch or stamp at each stop for the families to mark their map. Finally, families will end the StoryWalk back at the 4-H Building. Then, they can turn in their maps with all of the markings to earn a prize!

But first: SEEDS!

Most of my week was spent making last-minute preparations for PoP Club. Orange City PoP Club will start on Saturday, June 5th, and Sheldon and Rock Rapids PoP Club will start on June 7th. I will be attending the Orange City PoP Clubs and the Sheldon PoP clubs throughout the summer. The SOLO Horticulture Intern, Dustin Kohn, will be attending the Rock Rapids PoP Club for me since it overlaps with Sheldon’s.

For the first week of PoP club, kids get to plant their own seeds that they get to take home and watch grow throughout the entire summer. Hopefully, the kids will get to harvest their produce after a couple weeks. The kids get to choose from beans, peas, lettuce, carrots, and squash seeds to plant. So, this week, I gathered all of the materials for the PoP clubs and created seed information sheets for the kids to take home. These sheets describe to their caregiver how to take care of the plants.

6/5/2021 Update:

PoP Club at Orange City was a success! We had 26 kids stop by and participate in the activity, as well as multiple new families joined PoP club! The kids got to choose between lettuce, carrots, and bean seeds to plant. Carrot seeds were the most popular to plant today. Unfortunately, it was a windy day, so we were battling the wind the entire day. One time, the wind picked up and tipped our containers over that contained the seeds. We had more lettuce seeds but not more carrot seeds. So, we created a lettuce and carrot seed medley. The kids seemed unbothered by this and still wanted to plant the seed medley. Kids enjoyed the PoP Club activities and are excited to come back every week for PoP Club!

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Overall, this week was a nice, short, relaxing week full of preparation for what is to come. Soon, things will be kicked into high gear and be jam-packed full of events.

Until then,

-Alex

Week 3

This week was spent taste-testing smoothies made with locally grown produce and getting our hands messy with science camp and gardening.

Tuesday, we had the chance to help with the local Summer Science Discovery Camp put on by the Benton County 4-H program. Campers discover how chemical and physical changes occur through a variety of experiments. They made predictions and observations as hydrogen peroxide reacted with yeast, made slime using glue, water, and borax, and observed what happened when Mentos are added to Diet Coke.

On Wednesday, we had the chance to participate in a local food taste test with one of the elementary schools in Cedar Rapids. We made mixed berry smoothies with locally grown strawberries from Coggon, IA and spinach from Cedar Rapids, IA. The students had a fun time trying the smoothies and rating with a sticker chart whether they loved it, liked it, or tried it. Many of the kids loved the smoothie and gave it two thumbs up, reassuring our smoothie-making skills.

Thursday, we began our programming with children at Happy Time Child Development Center. We discussed what a seed needs to grow and then practiced what we learned by planting a garden. The kids were excited to plant a variety of fruits and vegetables, including carrots, cucumbers, watermelon, and cantaloupe. We can’t wait to see their growing progress over the summer as we return to the center for other fun programs. 

On Friday, we had a busy day in the office planning and prepping for activities. We practiced making smoothies with the blender bike. Of course, we had to taste-test the outcomes of our trial rides. They were delicious! We also put together ranch seasoning packets to be combined with Greek Yogurt to make some yummy homemade ranch dip. We plan to hand these out at future events such as farmers’ markets and the various Rollin’ Recmobile stops.

Catch us next week as we continue our programming in Benton and Linn counties.

– Tatum and Maelyn

Week 2 Summary

Summer Project Updates

Activities and Accomplishments

Our team will be working together on each project to accomplish the objectives and goals. Together we have developed weekly tasks, schedules, and internal deadlines to meet the desired outcomes. These will be updated weekly to reflect our progress.

Fun Facts – Region 4 intern updates

During week one I was in Woodbury County. I got to meet the staff that I didn’t already know and was able to catch up with the staff that I hadn’t seen in a long time due to the pandemic. I was able to sit down with Molly, my supervisor,  to discuss the summer and go over all of the camps that I will be helping at. We decided since I am heavily involved in the livestock industry it would be a good idea to branch out on my own and plan something for the youth involving livestock. After brainstorming I decided on inviting the Boys and Girls Club of Siouxland to the Woodbury County Fair, which is the first week in August. My main goal is to show the youth something that they may have never seen before or even experienced. The majority of the Woodbury County population resides in Sioux City, and most do not even know what goes on outside the city. With that being said, the plan is to bus the kids from the Boys and Girls Club to the fairgrounds and I will give them an educational tour of the fairgrounds. I will take them through all of the livestock barns and have a 4-Her there waiting to show them their animal and explain to them how they care for it, how they show it, what they feed it, and anything else they may want to share. I will also take them through the 4-H building where all of the static exhibits are. I also want to incorporate a lesson from the extension office, which will most likely be from Pick a Better Snack.